LABOR AND ECONOMY
Variety
By Jennifer Maas
Aug. 1, 2023
WGA East president Michael Winship will not be seeking re-election amid the ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. “This is a decision that was made right from the start two years ago when I was asked to return to the presidency,” Winship said in a statement sent to guild members Tuesday, just as WGAE revealed the candidates up for officer seats in its upcoming council election this September. “Despite having already served five terms as president, from 2007-2017, I agreed to run again in 2021 to help work out issues the guild was facing in terms of constitutional revisions and other membership concerns, but I did say then that it only would be for two years.” Per Winship, “This is not a choice that was made lightly, but I have been a member of this union for more than four decades and active in our work for nearly all of them. Now the time has come for me to pass responsibility to the new generation of Guild members and the elected council.”
JOINING TOGETHER
New York City Council’s Labor Committee Approves Resolution Supporting SAG-AFTRA & WGA Strikes
Deadline
By David Robb
Aug. 1, 2023
The New York City Council’s Committee on Civil Service and Labor passed a resolution today in support of a fair contract for striking actors and writers. Following a hearing, the committee voted unanimously to approve the resolution, which will go to a vote of the full City Council on Thursday. The Writers Guild of America has been on strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers since May 2 and SAG-AFTRA since July 14.
Union, TruStage remain embroiled in lingering contract dispute
Wisconsin Examiner
By Erik Gunn
Aug. 1, 2023
Two months after ending a 17-day walkout, union employees at a Madison financial services business complain of little progress in contract talks that they say have dragged on, exacerbated by infrequent negotiation sessions. The contract talks at TruStage Financial Group — formerly CUNA Mutual Group — have resolved a few issues, most of which the union’s chief steward described in an interview Monday as “peripheral,” while the company and Office & Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU) Local 39 remain far apart on the most critical provisions.
NYC Health + Hospitals nurses win historic pay raise in new union contract
Gothamist
By Caroline Lewis
Aug. 1, 2023
Public-sector nurses at NYC Health + Hospitals are getting their biggest pay bump ever after an arbitrator intervened in stalled contract negotiations with the city’s hospital system and labor officials. On Monday afternoon, the arbitrator made a binding decision to award the nurses a contract that will increase their pay by about 37% over five-and-a-half years. The New York State Nurses Association, the nurses' union, says the win will put the nurses’ salaries on par with their private-sector counterparts and make it easier to fill some 2,000 vacancies across the public hospital system.
SAG-AFTRA brings its labor fight to New York
Los Angeles Times
By Stephen Battaglio
Aug. 1, 2023
SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher came home Tuesday to New York as striking actors gathered outside of City Hall in a show of support nearly three weeks after they staged a nationwide walkout against the Hollywood studios. The Queens, N.Y., native and star of “The Nanny” was joined by other SAG-AFTRA officials and supportive New York City politicians as they stressed their demands for improved residual payments for streamed programs and movies and protections on the use of the likeness of performers through artificial intelligence.
Amalgamated Sugar workers union votes on potential strike
Idaho News 6
By Isaiah Sharp
Aug. 1, 2023
Amalgamated Sugar and its worker's union are currently negotiating contracts but the company's most recent proposal has made employees consider a potential strike. In a statement for Amalgamated Sugar, they said, "Amalgamated Sugar Company and the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers (BCTGM) International Union have been negotiating since the end of May for a new collective bargaining agreement. In a statement for Amalgamated Sugar, they said, "Amalgamated Sugar Company and the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers (BCTGM) International Union have been negotiating since the end of May for a new collective bargaining agreement. Upon review, BCTGM representatives did not see the contract as a fair deal and on Tuesday started voting on a strike. Concerns about wages, pensions, and benefits were highlighted as issues, and union representatives are hoping a common ground can be made.
Thousands of San Jose city workers hold strike vote
NBC Bay Area
By Stephen Ellison and Ian Cull
Aug. 1, 2023
San Jose city workers on Tuesday were voting on whether or not to go on strike after their contract expired more than a month ago. Unions representing more than 4,500 San Jose city employees began in-person voting at two locations that would authorize a three-day strike if a new deal with better pay is not reached. The city employees include city services from 911 dispatchers in the fire department to supervisors at the San Jose airport.